Joseph Knox Walker
Joseph Knox Walker was an American politician and officer in the Confederate Army.
Early life
Walker was born on July 19, 1818, in Columbia, Tennessee. He was the son of James Walker, of Columbia, Tennessee, a nephew of President James K. Polk, and a brother of Lucius Marshall Walker. He graduated from Yale College in 1838.Career
In March 1845, he became Secretary to the President of [the United States|Private Secretary of President Polk] and the signer of land-warrants. In 1858, he was a member of the Tennessee Senate.Soon after the beginning of the American Civil War, he entered the Confederate States Army and became colonel of the 2nd Tennessee Infantry Regiment. Exposure in camp at Columbus, Kentucky, and afterward in the vicinity of the Siege of Corinth and Battle of Shiloh, impaired his health so seriously that he resigned his command. The United States Army general commanding the department permitted him to return home to Memphis, Tennessee. There, his strength gradually declined until he died.
Death
He died at the residence of his brother-in-law, Mr. Wm. S. Pickett, on August 21, 1863, aged about 45 years.Category:1863 deaths
Category:People from Columbia, Tennessee
Category:Yale College alumni
Category:Personal secretaries to the president of the United States
Category:Confederate States Army officers
Category:Tennessee state senators
Category:1818 births
Category:19th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly